Greetings from Costa Rica

initial impressions:
wind, wind, wind and rain on the flight transfer in LAX- Amy and I are scrambling to make our connection, literally running the half mile or so between the terminals. The last leg of our flight into San Jose is highlighted by the ultra-casual, joking flight attendants who spend much of the flight hanging out with a few teenagers from a large group, just chatting and shooting the breeze.

Alajuela is our first stop- a small town that´s the actual home of the airport, we walk the narrow streets and enjoy our first taste of Costa Rican hospitality and food. There are many locals around, with very few foreigners, just enjoying the air, the park, laughing, talking loudly, working. After the US, the feeling is close, personal, intimate, a little overwhelming but not in a bad or unsafe way- Amy and I retreat to our inexpensive hotel with the tiny cold water trickle shower and the beautiful smile of the non-English speaking hostess to enjoy our first Tican breakfast of fresh fruit and toast.

We walk to the bus station the next morning, and are plyed by a local cab driver with questions in a mix of Spanish and English- where are you going? La Fortuna and the volcano at Arenal? $60 to take us there. We´ll wait.
45 minutes later the bus still hasn´t arrived, two Americans approach us. They´re planning to go to the cloud forest in Monteverde, but when they hear our plan and our cab offer, we pool our resources and hire Oliver to take us to La Fortuna. For $15-person Oliver drives like crazy through the windy roads into the mountains, passing every other car in the wind, mist and fog, all the while shouting into his cell phone and arguing with his girlfriend who is waiting for him in San Ramon along the way. Needless to say we stop there so he can by turns argue and console her, before asking us if she can join us in his little care, already full of four people. "is $10 a person, please can she come" Although Amy and I briefly consider it, the two women from Colorado are both green from the drive and dry heaving, and firmly decline.
Our now decidedly grumpy driver pilots us even more recklessly until he has a chance to cool down, then he and I chat in Spanglish about formula one race car driving, of which he (obviously) is a fan. We arrive in one piece in two hours. The bus I find out later takes most travelers 4 and a 1-2 hours.

brief highlights up till now-
La Fortuna is very turista- thousands if not millions of the tourists who come through here make their way to this active vocano in the hopes of seeing the lava erupting just several kilometers away. With clouds obscuring our view the whole time, we´re content to enjoy the thermal baths, a beautiful waterfall hike and an afternoon of kayaking on lake Arenal with a personal guide pointing out an incredible array of wildlife. The casados, the typical meals of the Costa Ricans, are delicious and simple. Both Amy and I feel this food will do us good.

A 5 hour, 3-leg van journey brings us to our current destination, the small coastal town of Nosara, and the beach Playa Guiones. This town is teeming with surfers and expats, and so far feels abit like summer camp for surfers, this feeling heightened by the massive party held at our resort the Gilded Iguana www.gildediguana.com on our first night here.

Although my surfboard did not make our LA connection, the San Jose airport US airways guy was super helpful, and sent the board ahead to meet us here in Nosara for our arrival. Sadly, on opening the bag I discovered an absolutely huge crushed ding in the upper part of the board. The local surf shop owner just shook his head in dismay, but is working on it now. In the meantime i´ve rented a board for the day and had my first taste of the surf- 3-4 feet, mellow peeling right and lefts along the beach. Although there are many surfers, people are spread out and the vibe is mellow. They tell me it´s currently "pretty bad" by their standards, so no one is getting to excited about anything. There are lots of beginners too, and many norteamericanos who don´t live here permanently, but are here for as many as 4 months. One couple from lake tahoe rent their house through the four months of the winter and spend their time traveling Central America- sounds nice!

This afternoon Amy and I will rent bikes and explore the area, catch a surf this afternoon and this evening enjoy the bottle of Nicaraguan rum, called Flor de Cana, with lime and coke from our rooms awesome balcony overlooking the action below.

People here on the beach, locals and turistas alike really do say Pura Vida, all the time.
Pura Vida!
Burke